Michael Smith (chef)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Michael Dixon Smith | |
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| Born | Canada |
| Cooking style | Canadian Regional |
| Education | Culinary Institute of America |
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Current Restaurant(s)
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Television show(s)
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Michael Dixon Smith is a Canadian chef and writer, host of Chef at Home, Chef at Large (both on the Food Network Canada) and The Inn Chef.
Smith graduated with honours from the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in New York in 1991. He then worked in restaurants in London, South America and the Caribbean before coming back to North America to cook in different restaurants in Manhattan.
In 1992, Smith joined Prince Edward Island’s now famous country inn, The Inn at Bay Fortune in Fortune Bridge, Prince Edward Island, which soon became one of Canada's top 10 restaurants[citation needed] with the chef noted for his intense focus on regionalism and the foods of Prince Edward Island.
Six years later, Smith’s television show The Inn Chef debuted on the Life Network and later transitioned to Food Network Canada. The series featured Smith as he took viewers inside the inn’s real-life country kitchen. The Inn Chef won best Variety/Music/Cooking Show in TV GUIDE Canada’s 2001 Reader Poll. The series currently airs on Prime TV.
In 1999, Smith opened his own restaurant, Maple, in Halifax. It quickly became recognized as one of the top venues in the country for Canadian Cuisine. In the fall of 2001 Smith left Maple to focus on his new Food Network Canada series Chef at Large. In May 2002, he was presented the James Beard Award for “Best National Television Special” for his documentary Saturday Night.
His hairstyle has changed over the years from being tied in a tight braid to being short and flowy.
Perhaps his most challenging initiative to date is the recent shift Smith made from professional chef to home cook. His 3rd series, Chef At Home, debuted to rave reviews and top ratings on Food Network Canada in 2004 and features a behind-the-scenes peek at Smith’s home kitchen and how he cooks for his family and friends, especially his partner Rachel and their son Gabriel. Chef at Home currently airs on Food Network Canada, Discovery Home U.S and in more than 40 countries around the world.
Smith has authored three cookbooks to date. His most recent, Chef at Home – Cooking With and Without a Recipe, hit bookshelves across Canada in the fall of 2005. Open Kitchen: A Chef's Day at The Inn At Bay Fortune, published in 1998, took the bronze medal at Cuisine Canada’s Cookbook Award that same year. He followed that with The Inn Chef a year later.
In 2008, Smith will be launching a new show on Food Network Canada entitled Chef Abroad.
[edit] TV appearances
- Chef Abroad - host (2008 - present)
- Chef at Home - host (2004 - present)
- Chef at Large - host (2004 - present)
- The Inn Chef - host (1998 - 2000)
[edit] Books
- The Inn Chef: Creative Ingredients, Sensational Flavor (March 4, 2000 Callawind Publications ISBN-10 1896511147, ISBN-13 978-1896511146)
- Open Kitchen: A Chef's Day at The Inn at Bay Fortune (August 8, 2005 Callawind Publications ISBN-10 1896511104, ISBN-13 978-1896511108
- Chef at Home: Cooking Without a Recipe (October 13, 2005 Whitecap Books ISBN-10 1552857166, ISBN-13 978-1552857168)
